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March 2012

March 31, 2012

Manager Ron Washington began his daily briefing by talking about the team's decision to option left-hander Michael Kirkman to Triple A Round Rock. Kirkman had been the odds-on favorite to win the left-handed relief job in the bullpen when spring training began, but he has been inconsistent.

The Rangers sent five players to Triple A Round Rock on Saturday afternoon, including left-hander Michael Kirkman.

That leaves Neal Cotts, a veteran who hasn't pitched in the majors in two years but who does have World Series experience, and Robbie Ross, a starter who has never pitched above Double A, as the only two lefties competing for a bullpen spot.

The Rangers have had their discussion about Ross' future. While manager Ron Washington wouldn't divulge the detalis of the discussion, he said, 'It's playing itself out. He's still here."

Cotts has shown this spring that he has overcome elbow and hip problems. He opened camp in the minors but was moved to the big-league clubhouse during the first week of Cactus League games. He has shown the coaches that he has the stuff to get both lefties and righties out, as has Ross.

Josh Hamilton expects to be ready for Opening Day after experiencing tightness in his left groin Friday night. He is not in the lineup Saturday night and doesn't expect to play Sunday, but he received treatment on the groin Saturday afternoon and is planning to hit in the cage.

Though the tightness is on the same side where he had a hernia at the end of last season, it's not in the same area.

The groin was one of several topics Hamilton addressed.

He is expecting to play primarily center field this season, though he hasn't officially been told that will happen.

"I'm excited about it," he said. "I prefer center, but I'll do whatever they ask me to do."

Hamilton also said that he remains open to listening to the Rangers during the season should they approach is agent about a contract extension, but right now he is planning to be a free agent after the season. His preference is to stay in Texas.

"If Mike [Moye, his agent] comes to me and says they want to tak about a contract, we're going to listen," he said. "I haven't thought about it. I've got a job, man."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Yu Darvish saved his best for last this Cactus League season.

The Rangers’ right-hander struck out 11 in six innings and left his fourth and final spring start with a 5-3 lead that turned into the final score against Colorado.

Darvish wasn’t perfect, allowing six hits and a walk and hitting Michael Cuddyer. Jason Giambi had half of the Rockies’ hits, including a mammoth two-run homer in the second inning as Darvish struggled early with his fastball command.

But he settled into a groove after the homer, retiring 12 of the next 13 before Dexter Fowler started the sixth with a single and would score three batters later on a single by Todd Helton.

He struck out Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki three times apiece. Gonzalez saw 10 pitches from Darvish, nine of them strikes.

“I thought he was impressive,” bullpen coach Andy Hawkins said. “He went at those guys, and I thought he did good job. He had no scouting report to go off, and he executed his pitches.”

Darvish said that he had command issues in the first few innings, and he was behind in the count 2-0 before allowing a double to Todd Helton to start the second and the Giambi homer in the next at-bat.

“I couldn’t throw anything for a strike,” said Darvish, who finished the Cactus League campaign with a 1-0 record an a 3.60 ERA. “I laid it in there, and I deserved to get hit like that in that situation.”

But he and catcher Mike Napoli decided to ditch the four-seam fastball for the two-seamer, a move that started his role through the third, fourth and fifth innings that included five of his strikeouts.

“It didn’t seem like I had that many strikeouts,” Darvish said. “Just the way Mike and I worked together tonight, and some of the great pitching calling he made for me and the way I was able to pitch comfortably, that all led to the 11 strikeouts.”

He threw a 65-mph curveball to Marco Scutaro that had the second baseman bailing out of the box. Umpire Lance Barrett signaled strike three to end the inning.

“Scutaro went running back to the dugout like that was a Bert Blyleven curveball,” manager Ron Washington said.

Tulowitzki and Gonzalez were also caught chasing off-speed pitches.

“His off-speed stuff was outstanding,” Hawkins said.

Darvish threw 98 pitches/62 strikes and said he felt fine. Had this been a regular-season game, said Washington, Darvish would have started the seventh inning.

He has one more outing before the regular seaosn, Wednesday in Frisco, with a 65-pitch limit. He is scheduled to make his major-league debut April 9. He said that he is satisfied with his spring as a whole, but still has some work to do.

“It’s slowly coming together. I’m making better pitches and more of them, but slowly it’s starting to come together,” Darvish said. “I don’t know when that’s going to come together, but I’m going to work hard to make sure it does come. I think just pitching to situations. I can still improve on that.”

The story of the Texas Rangers' 5-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night was Yu Darvish and his 11 strikeouts.

But there were other storylines that developed throughout the game, including Josh Hamilton leaving after the seventh inning with a tight left groin and Robbie Ross tossing two scoreless innings in relief.

Hamilton told manager Ron Washington after the seventh inning that he had felt tightness in his left groin, and Washington didn't hesitate to pull the star slugger. Hamilton is listed day to day.

"He said it was tight, I didn't get any more than that," Washington said. "Once he said that, I told him to get out of here."

Hamilton, who started in center field for the second consecutive night, had a two-run double in the fifth. All signs point to Hamilton being the Rangers' center fielder on Opening Day, but he does have a history of injuries.

Last year, Hamilton missed 36 games with a fractured humerus bone in his right arm. He also had offseason hernia surgery.

On a brighter note for the Rangers, left-hander Robbie Ross continued his strong spring. Ross, who has never pitched above Double A, is a candidate to become the Rangers' left-handed reliever in the bullpen.

Ross worked two scoreless innings, allowing two hits with no walks and no strikeouts. His Cactus League ERA is at 1.64 after eight appearances.

"He's got late movement, he's hard to pick up, he's deceptive," bullpen coach Andy Hawkins said. "He was behind all the hitters in his first inning, adjusted and got ahead of all of the hitters in his second inning. He's got that little cutter that gets in there on you."

Washington also has liked what he's seen from Ross, and said he's still being considered for a bullpen spot.

Right-hander Yu Darvish struck out 11 Colorado Rockies on Friday night in a 5-3 Rangers victory. Mike Napoli caught them all, and they speak about the game in this video. Joe Furukawa translates. Video by Jeff Wilson.

"Use your own judgment," Washington said, after it was noted that Hamilton was starting for a second straight game in center field, that Julio Borbon's playing time has been cut of late, and that David Murphy would have been the starting left fielder over Craig Gentry on Friday against Colorado had he not been felled by a stomach illness.

Said one baseball scout: "Hamilton has to play center field, because no one else has stepped up and taken the job."

A likely scenario is that Hamilton will start in center field against right-handers and shift to left field against left-handers. The left-handed-hitting Murphy would be the left fielder against righties, and the right-handed-hitting Gentry would start in center against lefties with Hamilton shifting to left.